{"id":36604,"date":"2012-02-13T06:48:25","date_gmt":"2012-02-13T13:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=36604"},"modified":"2012-02-13T06:48:29","modified_gmt":"2012-02-13T13:48:29","slug":"campaign-disclosure-bill-passes-senate-unchanged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/02\/campaign-disclosure-bill-passes-senate-unchanged\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign disclosure bill passes Senate unchanged"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Roll<\/a>

Photo by AMagill\/flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The Senate unanimously passed legislation\u00a0that attempts to fix problems with the state\u2019s campaign-disclosure law on Sunday, sending it to the House for consideration.<\/p>\n

Although critics had problems<\/a> with some elements of Senate Bill 11<\/a>, the proposal appeared to have been propelled to unanimous passage by lawmakers\u2019 desire to pass something \u2014 anything \u2014 that would mitigate the unlimited flow of political spending released by recent court decisions.<\/p>\n

“If we don’t pass this bill, I can assure you we’re going to be worse off,” Sen. Peter Wirth<\/a>, D-Santa Fe and the sponsor of the bill, told his\u00a0colleagues.<\/p>\n

The bill would require groups making independent expenditures to disclose information about where the money came from and where it went.<\/p>\n

As NMPolitics.net\u00a0has reported<\/a>,\u00a0recent court decisions have invalidated parts of New Mexico\u2019s\u00a0Campaign Reporting Act<\/a>\u00a0and many, perhaps especially lawmakers, fear an influx of large amounts of undisclosed political spending.<\/p>\n

Measure passed with little debate<\/h3>\n

Although representatives from several nonprofit organizations earlier spoke out against the bill, saying it was too onerous, and some lawmakers said they wished it were stricter, it was passed 40-0 after an hour\u2019s discussion.<\/p>\n

Sen. Bill Sharer<\/a>, R-Farmington, asked a question about church groups; Sen. Clinton Harden<\/a>, R-Clovis, asked about push polls; but the bill\u2019s passage was foretold when Senate Minority Whip Bill Payne<\/a>, R-Albuquerque, said a conversation with Wirth had allayed his concerns and, although he\u2019d voted against the bill in committee, he\u2019d vote for it on the floor.<\/p>\n

“I don’t see anything nefarious in the bill. …This thing is pretty neutral,” Payne said.<\/p>\n

Still, some seemed resigned to the fact that the Legislature has only limited power to control the flow of money.\u00a0Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, expressed frustration that the bill could do nothing to prevent what many have called \u201chit pieces\u201d against candidates.<\/p>\n

“Are we simply identifying the car that hit you after it runs you over?” Ortiz y Pino asked.<\/p>\n

NMPolitics.net liveblogged the discussion. You can read the archive here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Compromise may ensure passage<\/h3>\n

Wirth told NMPolitics.net earlier in the week that he was trying to take into account everybody\u2019s concerns, but that his top priority was closing loopholes left by the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Citizens United and a recent court case in New Mexico that invalidated parts of our campaign finance law.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, the reason it didn\u2019t pass was because the attorney general had a different version and was pushing something that the nonprofits really hated and was unconstitutional, in my opinion,\u201d Wirth said. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been trying to do is work with the attorney general\u2026 and they\u2019ve pulled way, way back from where they were.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attorney general\u2019s chief counsel, Stuart Bluestone, said Thursday he was pleased with the bill as passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same version passed by the full Senate Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it strikes a fair balance and it\u2019s not prohibiting anybody from saying anything. It just is trying to get disclosure of where the\u00a0money is coming from that\u2019s trying to affect elections,\u201d Bluestone said.<\/p>\n

Here is SB 11 as introduced<\/a>, and as amended by the\u00a0Senate Rules Committee<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Senate Judiciary Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From the fiscal impact report<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It requires that any person who makes an independent expenditure that is not otherwise required to be reported under the Campaign Reporting Act (Act) shall file a report of the expenditure with the SOS within three days. Such independent expenditure reports are required to identify:<\/p>\n